This was a game of men versus boys. The Kansas City Chiefs utterly overwhelmed a demoralized, broken Rams team by winning 26-10, ending the reigning champions hopes of repeating as Super Bowl champions.
It’s over. There will be a new Super Bowl champion this year as the Los Angeles Rams have been torn down from their SB favorite pedestal and violently replaced by one of their AFC SB rivals, the Kansas City Chiefs. Sure, the Rams aren’t mathematically out of the NFC playoff race yet as the Wild Card teams of the NFC are substantially weaker than the AFC this season, but we all know they’re out of the playoffs.
Even the Rams management knew they had a 0% chance of making it back to the Super Bowl with their actions prior to the game.
With Matthew Stafford suffering yet another concussion last week that forced him out of the game today, there was a flurry of reports that suggested that the Rams were on the brink of shutting down the former Detroit quarterback for the season.
Now, you don’t need me to tell you that when a team actively shuts down their franchise quarterback weeks before their season is over, they know they have little hope of making it to the playoffs.
Plus, those reports had to be demoralizing for this Rams roster as they not only lost their sole force on offense (as Cooper Kupp has also been ruled out for the season), but they also lost an important locker room leader. And it showed during this game today.
The Kansas City Chiefs never got out of third gear as they tore apart the Rams with every possession regardless of if they were on offense or on defense.
Patrick Mahomes once again proved why he is the best quarterback in the league today as he completed 27/42 passes for 320 yards, 1 TD, and 1 INT, while he also managed to spread the ball around on offense as Travis Kelce had 4 catches for 57 yards and 1 TD, Juju Smith-Schuster had 3 catches for 38 yards, Marquez Valdes-Scantling had 4 catches for 56 yards, and Sky Moore had 5 catches for 36 yards.
Meanwhile, the Chiefs running game was solid too as they combined for 117 total rushing yards, with Isiah Pacheco leading the way with 22 carries for 69 yards and 1 TD.
Pacheco has really taken the mantel of the Chiefs #1 rusher from Clyde Edward-Helaire and Jerrick MacKinnon as he has been their most consistent and successful runner all season long. Averaging 87 yards/game these past three games, Pacheco has been one of the critical reasons for the Chiefs success as they have been able to take some of the pressure off Mahomes with a consistent running game, which was not the case for last season.
Despite having defenders like Aaron Donald, Jalen Ramsey, Bobby Wagner, and Leonard Floyd, the Rams defense simply couldn’t stop this balance, well-drilled Chiefs offense.
Reversely, the Chiefs defense easily stuffed the Rams offense with 57 tackles, 3 sacks, 6 TFL, 8 PD, 2 INT, and 5 QB hits. LB Nick Bolton (11 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 PD, 1 INT), CB L’Jarius Sneed (7 tackles, 1 TFL, 2 PD, 1 INT), and Chris Jones (1 tackle, 1 sack, 1 TFL, 1 QB hit) were especially destructive today as they smothered and broke the Rams passing and rushing attacks, though that wasn’t too much of a surprise.
Along with having one of the worst ever rushing attacks in NFL history (again they failed to reach 100 total rushing yards: 82), the Rams were also down to a 3rd stringer at quarterback and were without the reigning Triple Crown winner at wide receiver. I mean, what was anyone really expecting Bryce Perkins (13/23, 100 yards, 1 TD, 2 INTs) to do against the Chiefs Super Bowl-caliber defense in Arrowhead Stadium?
Nevertheless, this win keeps the Chiefs (9-2) rolling towards the AFC Crown and 1st seed, while the Rams (3-8) are now in prime position to draft in one of the Top-10 places come April.
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